A Kiss in the dark - An Unfortunate Fairytale
by jekodama
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Based on Chanda Hahn's characters from the "Unfortunate Fairytale" Series. I promise I'm not making any profit out of this, it's just a Creative Writing exercise. This story is set after the Bethrotal but before the War.


Teague's eyes flashed with fury as he pushed Mina against the wall. Mina whimpered when her head hit against it, and blinked quickly to avoid the tears from falling, missing the way Teague's eyes softened for a second. But the anger surfaced again before she opened hers, though he relinquished the vice-like grip he had on her arms, capturing one of her wrists in his hand, the other going to her face. He softly caressed her cheek with his knuckles, a slow, cruel smile spreading on his lips.

"Oh, Mina, Mina, lovely Mina. I could crush you like a fallen leaf right now if I wanted to. You have power, yes, but it doesn't compare to mine, never will. Especially now, after you so kindly reunited me with little Jared." He delicately traced her lips with his fingers, earning a sharp intake of breath from Mina. "I can't help but wonder, how did you never realize that we were one and the same? Just two parts of the same soul?"

Mina looked into his eyes and some of the fear and tension left her. He wouldn't hurt her, not right now, and he was distracted by her, so she had the chance to really look at him. Her heart was full of longing for this boy, this man, because she knew there was goodness in him, even if it was surrounded by hate and darkness. This close to him she realized that Teague's eyes, which had been pure cobalt blue before the Grimoire joining him with Jared, now had specks of silver and grey in them.

"Because you never told me. You never trusted me enough to do what was right for you, for me."

His hands stilled and he was barely breathing, looking at Mina both expectant and afraid. She put her free hand on his chest, feeling the beating of his heart, as erratic as hers. And in that moment, looking at his conflicted eyes, she felt hopeful. Slowly, as to not frighten him, she closed the distance between their lips. He didn't outright reject her, so she closed her eyes and touched his lips with hers, just the slightest pressure, and kissed him.

It took him exactly three seconds to realize that she was indeed kissing him, and another three to kiss her back. It was hesitant at first until he felt her sigh and lean into him, the hand on his chest playing with the collar of his shirt. His hand, the one that had been caressing her face, went to crane her neck, and the other one released her wrist and went to her waist, pulling her flush against him.

Mina poured her heart out in that kiss. All her fear for her life, her family, her future, but most of all the fear she felt for him. Not of him. Because in that instant she knew without a doubt that if she didn't do something, she would lose him forever to the darkness in his heart.

She felt her heart soar and constrict at the same time. Joy because she felt it, deep in her bones, that he loved her, even if he was constantly trying to hurt her. Infinite sadness, because she finally accepted that it was her own fault, her decisions, what drove him to be tainted by Evil.

She should have left Ferah die at the hands of the Reaper. She could have killed Teague with the dagger after Ferah attacked. She wouldn't be tearing her heart to pieces like this. But then again, she wouldn't have the chance to save him.

Funny how prophecies become self-fulfilling.

Teague felt like he was both on fire and frozen. So many emotions were swirling inside his mind, inside his heart. Love and hate and anger and bliss and fury at her for abandoning him a lifetime ago, and a passion so strong that could tear the veil between the planes, and a pain so devastating because she surely didn't want him, because he was evil, she surely wanted Jared, but Jared was no more, Teague made sure of that.

But most of all, he felt an infinite sense of awe and wonder, because he had imagined this moment countless times, and God knew his imagination was vivid, but it paled compared to the reality of the moment.

After a while that could have been seconds or days, they slowly emerged from the kiss. Both of them with their eyes closed, their bodies pressed together in an intimate embrace, and their foreheads touching. Mina opened her eyes and traced Teague's face with her fingers, as he had done before, committing this, him, to her memory, to her heart.

"I love you, Teague." She said, whispering "I loved you then, I love you know, and I will love you after all is said and done."

He opened his dark blue eyes and stared at her with piercing eyes, as if he could read her deepest thoughts, the truth in her heart.

"I did this to you, I know it now. But I will fix it." She blinked and a couple of tears rolled from her eyes. "I will vanquish you" she sobbed, and her voice was breaking but she went on "and I will get rid of the darkness in you. We will get our happy ending. I promise you that."

"And what if I win?" He asked in a whisper, kissing the tears away.

"Then I will die in your arms, Teague, because there is not a place in the world that my heart wants to be if it is not with you."

He gave her a lopsided smile, but a sincere one. "Then let the best one win" he said, and with a last brush of their lips, he stepped away from her and vanished in the shadows.


End file.
